The first mutant born after M-Day, Hope Summers is believed to either be the mutant messiah or the harbinger of death for humanity. She is an Omega-level power mimic, and possesses a connection to the Phoenix Force.

Omega-level mutants; a descriptive list, part 1.5

Our last Summers/Grey mutant as well as the most recently appeared, and one that I overlooked at first, Hope Summers falls neatly into the category of Omega-level mutant. As the adopted daughter of Cable, son of Madelyne Pryor and Cyclops, Hope has no actual blood relation to any of the characters in the Summers/Grey family; her mother was a firefighter named Louise Spalding, who lived in Cooperstown, Alaska, the destruction of which would trigger the arc known as the Messiah Complex to occur. To summarize: Cerebro blew up and shorted out the mansion's power the second Hope was born, and when the X-men arrived to investigate the event they found Cooperstown engulfed in flames. Purifiers had already begun killing every child they could find, in hopes of killing the newly-born mutant, and the marauders were shown to have snatched the baby in the confusion. There was a fight, and Cable managed to steal the baby away. However, he soon discovered that the time-traveling X-man Bishop was hellbent on killing the child, believing her responsible for the events which would lead to mutant concentration camps in the future from whence he came. Cable, also a time-traveler, took the little girl into the future, hoping to hide her, but no matter how far he traveled, distance or time, he could never evade pursuit. His young charge, who was nameless until the age of five, grew up in a frantic struggle for survival, eating rats and staying strapped to Cable's chest for virtually her entire infancy. For a number of years, Cable managed to find them sanctuary in the hidden town of New Liberty, where he met and married a local woman named Hope. The three lived in peace for a few years, until the town was beset by humanoid cockroaches, prompting Cable to flee from the place and find somewhere more secure. They were intercepted, and Hope was shot, dying in Cable's arms. After burying the remains of his dead wife, Cable gave the child he had been protecting a name at last; Hope. The struggle for survival continued, and Hope grew up learning how to be the perfect soldier; cleaning wounds, removing bullets, scavenging for rations, being taught strategy and tactics. As she grew, they drew closer and closer to the end of the world itself- their time travel device was broken, meaning that they could only travel forward in time, saving that one backwards jump for returning Hope to the X-men and her era. As Hope grew, she displayed only one true sign of her burgeoning abilities- the phoenix brand, which manifested in her eyes at least twice. Of note is the fact that this added fuel to the already extant theories that Hope was actually just Jean Grey, either cloned or re-born entirely. Eventually the time came for the final jump back in time, and in a pitched battle with Bishop, Hope finally utilized her enigmatic powers for the first time, defeated the desperate attacker, and Cable managed to send Bishop to the very end of the world itself, where he is presumed dead. At the age of 16, Hope and Cable returned to the X-men, and the Messiah War began. Therein, hope displayed a variety of powers, which were later explained as being 'power mimicry', as well as fully manifesting the Phoenix- flaming corona and all. Again, theories as to the true nature of Hope and her powers are many, most of them revolving around the constant theme of Jean Grey. One supposes, perhaps, that when a red-headed female mutant with green eyes appears, that must mean that they're undoubtedly connected to Jean Grey, somehow. What's more interesting is the unanswered question of what conditions need to be met for Hope to mimic an ability. Is it proximity-related, as is the case with Mimic, or does physical contact have to have occurred at some point, similarly to Rogue's abilities (note that some sort of bond exists between Hope and Rogue that has yet to be properly explored, see Messiah War for reference)? Does Hope retain the abilities she's mimicked, or does she have to be within a certain distance of the individual in order to retain usage? And the issue that intrigues me the most; is Hope the actual current host for the Phoenix Force, or is she merely mimicking the abilities of someone else that was (or is)? The answer to this would depend on the nature of her powers, and therefore is not likely to be resolved any time soon.

You're absolutely right, the nature of her power is not likely to be resolved any time soon. Honestly, I don't think the writers have completely decided exactly what her powers are... But I have to admit, it is interesting in the way most mysteries are, you hate not knowing, but the not knowing keeps pulling you in...

Also, I'm hoping she is NOT an avatar of the phoenix, but only because I"m a bit tired of the whole phoenix thing... I like that she can jump-start or stabilize mutant abilities, and that she can use different abilities at different times... I hope they keep her at a level where she isn't COSMICALLY powerful. For me, characters become less interesting when they are uber super powerful; there's just no real challenge for them at that point...

@Timandm: Very true. It's like the writers think we're kittens or something- leave a few threads dangling, and we're in the palms of their hands. Okay, that was a bad metaphor... I agree completely! It's like they whip out the Phoenix thing whenever they get stuck for a new idea. Personally, I like that hallucination thing the Science team had, I think in the Messiah War. Hope as a viral sort of entity is fascinating. And yeah, I do like the fact that she can jump-start mutants, it kinda reminds me of how Sage was in the XSE with Lifeguard and her brother, whatshisface. Well, except more balanced.

@Squares: I know we arent on hte best of terms on the part one of the Omega list but good job and i like the detail you went in to about her.

@Timandm said:

You're absolutely right, the nature of her power is not likely to be resolved any time soon. Honestly, I don't think the writers have completely decided exactly what her powers are... But I have to admit, it is interesting in the way most mysteries are, you hate not knowing, but the not knowing keeps pulling you in... Also, I'm hoping she is NOT an avatar of the phoenix, but only because I"m a bit tired of the whole phoenix thing... I like that she can jump-start or stabilize mutant abilities, and that she can use different abilities at different times... I hope they keep her at a level where she isn't COSMICALLY powerful. For me, characters become less interesting when they are uber super powerful; there's just no real challenge for them at that point...

@DEGRAAF: Oh, wow, thanks. That's really nice of you to say. :) @Timandm: I don't know about them becoming completely disinteresting- I'm slowly working my way through the X-man series, and Nate Grey still seems pretty interesting to me. Then again, him and Franklin Richards are probably among the better-handled super-powerful mutants out there. They both kind of had this childlike naivety to them- Franklin because he's a child, and Nate because he's essentially a complete foreigner- and it seems to help temper the sheer magnitude of their power into a readable character.

@DEGRAAF: Oh, wow, thanks. That's really nice of you to say. :) @Timandm: I don't know about them becoming completely disinteresting- I'm slowly working my way through the X-man series, and Nate Grey still seems pretty interesting to me. Then again, him and Franklin Richards are probably among the better-handled super-powerful mutants out there. They both kind of had this childlike naivety to them- Franklin because he's a child, and Nate because he's essentially a complete foreigner- and it seems to help temper the sheer magnitude of their power into a readable character.

True!

And recently they depowered Nate significantly. Which, for him, sucks but it'll make it easier to keep him interesting... And if the writers are true to form, they'll eventually make him back into a cosmic super being. However, even that could be interesting if they do it slowly...

Also, I've enjoyed watching Franklin rediscover his powers. He does amazing things, but he isn't altering all of reality, or depowering an entire race of people. he does things like shoots Norman Osborne with his fingers (and who didn't enjoy seeing that?) or makes a toy dinosaur chomp the bad guy. Recently in Fear Itself he saved uncle Ben's life and undid the effect the evil hammer had on Uncle Ben. I like how he's being written/handled. I hope Marvel never decides to have a "House of Franklin" event...

@Timandm: They kinda had to depower Nate, I think, after his depiction in Dark Reign. Which sucks, because his appearance therein actually really excited me; however, it also showed him becoming kinda Cable-y. Franklin himself has gone through multiple cycles of being powered and then depowered. I hate to say it, but it feels like it's just a matter of time until someone decides to drain his powers again. House of Franklin? Don't even joke about that! 0_0

@Squares: House of Franklin? Don't even joke about that! 0_0 Yeah, I can imagine somewhere in some dark Marvel writer's office someone is reading this forum and going, "House of Franklin? Hmmmmmm...." LOL!

Oh crap, it's already begun! T_T Wellll, since we've already doomed ourselves, what would House of Franklin entail, and how would it begin? I don't recall him having children yet, and he doesn't seem to have been caused strife by any racial groups so far.

@Squares: House of Franklin? Don't even joke about that! 0_0 Yeah, I can imagine somewhere in some dark Marvel writer's office someone is reading this forum and going, "House of Franklin? Hmmmmmm...." LOL!

Oh crap, it's already begun! T_T Wellll, since we've already doomed ourselves, what would House of Franklin entail, and how would it begin? I don't recall him having children yet, and he doesn't seem to have been caused strife by any racial groups so far.

Well... Actually, I think Franklin has a number of children in alternate timelines and what not... I just read about one tonight... Franklin is the father and Rachel Summers is the mother.. I think it's Hyperstorm...

Okay, so... House of Franklin...

Well, first off, we might as well drag Galactus into this. Let's say he decides to kill Franklin as he has threatened to do in the past if Franklin's power keeps growing... Or some such thing... So, naturally, the good guys all have to fight Galactus... Some of them are killed in a major battle. Then Franklin, thinking to use the same ploy he used in "Heroes Reborn", decides to create an alternate universe to take all the good guys to.... Unfortunately, a blast of Galactus' reality altering energy beam smashes into Franklin at the critical moment (although Uncle Ben probably absorbs much of it which explains his mutation afterwards... the mutation is yet to be determined.) So, while Franklin INTENDED to create an ALTERNATE universe, he actually alters his universe....

In Franklin's universe:

Reed and Susan Richards are King and Queen of the Galaxy...

Uncle Ben looks human but is uber strong and invulnerable like the Hulk.

Uncle Johnny is still alive. (Please note, when the universe reverts back to normal Johnny will still be alive. That will be the mechanism by which Marvel brings the Human Torch back. And we all know Marvel is going to bring him back.)

The kids of the Future Foundation are all Princes, except for Val who is a Princess.

Victor Von Doom panhandles for money on the streets of Manhattan.

Dragon Man and Komodo are married and have a dozen reptilian mutant children.

Alex Powers actually has a girl friend.

Peter Parker is married to Mary Jane because THAT'S THEY WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE, DANGIT!

Smurfs are a part of the population but the tormented because people mistake them for mutants.

Emma Frost actually wears clothes.

Bad guys are all sentenced to prisons which are actually toy factories which use inmates as slave labor.

RACIAL STRIFE... Yes, there will be Star Bellies! Some will have only one star on their bellies. Some will have TWO stars. Some will have THREE stars... (I'm I sounding like Count Count from Sesame street? FOUR, FOUR STARS! Buu waa ha ha ha ha) So, between the smurfs and the star bellies there's ample racial strife and profiling... Also, because it's the Marvel Universe, there will likely be a Spider-Smurf, Captain Smurfica, Smurferine, X-20smurf, Smurfpool, Iron Smurf, Hulk Smurf, She-Hulk Smurf, Red-Hulk Smurf, Red She-Hulk Smurf, Smurfisher, Smurfeles, and the Scarlet Smurfett (who will alter the universe back to normal.)